Dorothy L. Sayers on The Value of Work

Dorothy L. Sayers was not only a writer of detective fiction, but she wrote religious plays as well. The following excerpt was from her first religious play. It concerned the principle she kept defending her whole life that the quality of the work reflects the value of the worker. Thus, Christ's work that manifests His wisdom the most is the finished and perfected Bride of Christ, the church.

Zeal of Thy House
Let me lie deep in hell,
Death gnaw upon me, purge my bones with fire,
But let my work, all that was good in me,
All that was God, stand up and live and grow.
The work is sound, Lord God, no rottenness there –
Only in me. Wipe out my name from men
But not my work; to other men the glory
And to Thy Name alone. But if to the damned
Be any mercy at all, O send Thy spirit
To blow apart the sundering flames, that I
After a thousand years of hell, may catch
One glimpse, one only, of the Church of Christ,
The perfect work, finished, though not by me.
(p. 163, Dorothy L. Sayers by Brabazon)

Dorothy L. Sayers Commenting on G. K. Chesteron

I am reading a biography of Dorothy L. Sayers, Dorothy L. Sayers: A Biography Here is a quote about how Sayers views Chesterton, which uses Chesterton's rather colorful figures of speech.

In later years Dorothy wrote to a young theologian, John Wren-Lewis, that she might well have abandoned Christianity altogether at this time had it not been for the vigorous example of G. K. Chesterton, who saw the history of Christendom as "one whirling adventure...[in which] the heavenly chariot flies thundering through the ages, the dull heresies sprawling and prostrate, the wild truth reeling but erect. (p. 35, Brabazon)

Charnock: The whole creation is a poem ...

Here's a quote I really like on creation from The Existence and Attributes of God by Stephen Charnock in his chapter in God's Wisdom. He is a Puritan, so to make it easier for you, I defined one of the technical terms and copied in some of the verses to make reading the quote easier.

The "Targum" is basically an Aramaic paraphrase of the Hebrew bible used in 100 BCE.

Romans 1:20
For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.

Proverbs 3:19
The LORD by wisdom founded the earth;
         by understanding he established the heavens;

Psalm 104:24
O LORD, how manifold are your works!
          In wisdom have you made them all;
          the earth is full of your creatures.

Jeremiah 10:12
It is he who made the earth by his power,
          who established the world by his wisdom, 
          and by his understanding stretched out the heavens.

Stephen Charnock
What we translate, Gen. i. 1, 'In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth,' the Targum expresseth, ' In the wisdom God created the heaven and the earth;' both bear a stamp of this perfection on them.* And when the apostle tells the Romans, chap. i. 20, ' The invisible things of God were clearly understood by the things that are made,' the word he uses is, ποίημα, not  ἔργοις ; this signifies a work of labour, but ποίημα a work of skill, or a poem. The whole creation is a poem, every species a stanza, and every individual creature a verse in it. The creation presents us with a prospect of the wisdom of God, as a poem doth the reader with the wit and fancy of the composer: ' By wisdom he created the earth,' Prov. iii. 19;' and stretched out the heavens by discretion,' Jer. x. 12. There is not anything so mean, so small, but glitters with a beam of divine skill; and the consideration of them would justly make every man subscribe to that of the psalmist,' O Lord, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all,' Ps. civ. 24 ;—all, the least as well as the greatest, and the meanest as well as the noblest, even those creatures which seem ugly and deformed to us, as toads, &c., because they fall short of those perfections which are the dowry of other animals. In these there is a footstep of divine wisdom, since they were not produced by him at random, but determined to some particular end, and designed to some usefulness, as parts of the world in their several natures and stations. God could never have had a satisfaction in the review of his works, and pronounced them good or comely, as he did, Gen. i. 31, had they not been agreeable to that eternal original copy in his own mind.

God's Knowledge and Our Self-Examination

God is omniscient, which means He knows everything. He knows what was, what is, what will be, what could be, and what could have been. He knows the future and all potential futures. He knows us. God especially knows our hearts, our minds, and our every thought.

The following verses validate this doctrine. The scriptures teach that God knows us personally and even more amazing is that he knows us more intimately than we know ourselves. This doctrine should prod us to faithfulness and give us great comfort.

1 Samuel 16:7
But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.

1 Chronicles 28:9
And you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father and serve him with a whole heart and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches all hearts and understands every plan and thought. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will cast you off forever.

Psalm 44:20-21
If we had forgotten the name of our God
   or spread out our hands to a foreign god,
would not God discover this?
   For he knows the secrets of the heart.

Psalm 139:1-6
O LORD, you have searched me and known me!
You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
   you discern my thoughts from afar.
You search out my path and my lying down
   and are acquainted with all my ways.
Even before a word is on my tongue,
   behold, O LORD, you know it altogether.
You hem me in, behind and before,
   and lay your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
   it is high; I cannot attain it.

John 2:23-25
Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing. But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man.

Charnock in the following quote explains why one of the comforts of God's intimate knowledge of ourselves is we can go to God to help us with our self-examination: our soul searching.

Stephen Charnock
In particular, it is our comfort that we can, and our necessity that we must address particularly to this, when we engage solemnly in a work of self examination; that we may have a clearer eye to direct us than our own, that we may not mistake brass for gold, or counterfeit graces for true; that nothing that is filthy and fit to be cast out may escape our sight, and preserve its stations. And we need not question the laying at the door of this neglect (viz., not calling in this attribute to our aid, whose proper office it is as I may so say, to search and inquire) all the mistakes, ill success, and fruitlessness of our endeavours in self examination, because we would engage in it in the pitiful strength of our own dimness, and not in the light of God's countenance, and the assistance of his eye, which can discern what we cannot see, and discover that to us which we cannot manifest to ourselves. It is a comfort to a learner of an art, to have a skilful eye to overlook his work, and inform him of the defects. Beg the help of the eye of God in all your searches and self examinations. (p. 254, The Existence and Attributes of God, Volume 7 of 50 Greatest Christian Classics, 2 Volumes in 1)

As we read Charnock, we need to remember that self-examination is not for self-recrimination. We are not to beat ourselves up over our sin. We are to identify it, repent of it, confess it, and press on to know Jesus. Here are some of the reasons to practice prayerful self-examination with the help of the Holy Spirit.

First, sin is a roadblocks in our relationship with God. The Psalmist models the appropriate way to identify sin in our lives. We need to trust God to reveal our sin. Sin will distort our view of God and move us off the path to righteousness.

Psalm 26:2-3
Prove me, O LORD, and try me;
    test my heart and my mind.
For your steadfast love is before my eyes,
    and I walk in your faithfulness.

Psalm 139:23-24
Search me, O God, and know my heart!
   Try me and know my thoughts!
And see if there be any grievous way in me,
   and lead me in the way everlasting!

The apostle John writes we should not delude ourselves that we have no sin. Once we identify the sin, confession is key.

1 John 1:8-10
If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

Second, self-examination is key to our relationship with others. Sin injures our relationships with both God and others. When we go to reconcile with others, we must first prayerfully identify, through the Holy Spirit's help, the areas of sin in our own lives.

Matthew 7:1-5
Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye.

Third, sin is not the only reason for self-examination. The apostle Paul teaches in Romans that we need to assess our abilities and our ministries. When we function within the body of Christ, we must soberly judge how we are gifted, both naturally and spiritually, to fit into different ministries.

Romans 12:3-4
For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function,

Fourth, when we celebrate communion together, we should examine ourselves to see if we are prepared spiritually to worship with others and understand the purpose of communion.

1 Corinthians 11:27-32
Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged. But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world.

Charles Hodge, the great Princeton theologian from the 1800s, elaborates from his commentary on this passage.

Charles Hodge on 1 Corinthians 11
Let a man examine himself. In other words, let him ascertain whether he has correct views of the nature and design of the ordinance, and whether he has the proper state of mind. That is, whether he desires thankfully to commemorate the Lord's death, renewedly to partake of the benefits of that death as a sacrifice for his sins, publicly to accept to accept the covenant of grace with all its promises and obligations, and to signify his fellowship with his brethren as joint members with himself to the body of Christ. (p. 233, 1 & 2 Corinthians (Geneva Series of Commentaries))

Fifth, Paul exhorted the carnal Corinthians to "examine yourselves." We should routinely ask ourselves. Do we still love Jesus or are we just going to church? Is our faith an empty faith? Or is our faith producing fruit??

2 Corinthians 13:5
Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!

Charles Hodge on 2 Corinthians 13
To examine and to prove mean the same thing. Both express the idea of trying or putting to the test to ascertain the nature or character of the person or thing tried. Whether ye be in the faith, that is, whether you really have faith, or are Christians only in name. This exhortation to self-examination supposes, on the one hand, that faith is self-manifesting, that it reveals itself in the consciousness and by its fruits; and, on the other hand, that it may exist and be genuine and yet not be known as true faith by the himself. Only what is doubtful needs to be determined by examination. The fact, therefore, that we are commanded to examine ourselves to see whether we are in the faith, proves that the a true believer may doubt of his good estate. In other words, it proves that assurance is not essential to faith.(ibid. p. 681)

In conclusion, although we will struggle with sin our entire lives, the book of Romans teaches us that Christ has won the battle for us.

Romans 7:21-25
So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.

Christ has won the battle, but sin encumbers our walk with God. We need to put away our old selves as it says in Ephesians 4:22. Let us lay aside every encumbrance and race toward Jesus.

Hebrews 12:1-2
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

John Owen, a Puritan theologian, explains what "lay aside" or "throw off" means.

John Owen
Let us throw off. The Greek word is used once in the New Testament to refer to natural things: "The witnesses laid their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul" (Acts 7:58).  The people about to stone Stephen laid down, or took off, their clothes, which sheds light on how we are to understand this metaphor.  In other places it is used of vicious habits, or causes of them, which we are to part from and cast away, since they hinder us (see Ephesians 4:22, 25; Colossians 3:8; James 1:21,; 1 Peter 2:1).  The word concerns our duty to all vicious habits, especially those that hinder our Christian life.  Unless these things are disposed of, laid aside, thrown off, we cannot run successfully the race we are called to. (p. 242, Hebrews (Crossway Classic Commentaries))

Our goal is not a self-maintained purity, but our goal is to pursue Christ. Our transformation rests in fixing our eyes on our Lord.

2 Corinthians 3:18
And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

A Tentmaker, A Tinker, and Eldership

Qualifications for being an elder has been a topic in my studies lately.  I keep encountering the same theme in different variations over the last year. Here are some meditations gleaned from my bible studies and my life experiences over the last several months.

The Corinthian Church

My Wednesday Morning Men Bible Study is studying 1st Corinthians. In the epistle, the apostle Paul has to defend his apostleship to some of the members of the Corinthian Church. At the start of chapter 9, he is encouraging the Corinthian church to give up their rights as believers in order to show love to one another. At the same time, he is defending his authority as an apostle. Paul asks a series of rhetorical questions to point out that he has laid aside his rights for his love of the Corinthians. Verse 6 refers to how Paul works as a tent-maker to support himself as he ministers in Corinth.

1 Corinthians 9:6
Or is it only Barnabas and I who have no right to refrain from working for a living?

Paul is pointing out that he and Barnabas have the right to not work with their hands for a living and to be supported by the Corinthian church. He argues later in the passage that a preacher should be supported for his preaching. However, according to the following commentator, Paul is also making a subtle point about the value of his work as a tent-maker.

Gordon D. Fee
The implication is that the problem for the Corinthians is not simply that he took no support from them (i.e. that he refused to take patronage in the home of one of their wealthier members), but that he supported himself in the demeaning fashion of working at a trade. What kind of activity is this for one who would be an “apostle of our Lord Jesus Christ”? Paul’s point of course is that he has the right not to, even though he rejected it. (p. 404, First Epistle to the Corinthians (The new international commentary on the New Testament) by Gordon D. Fee ( 1987 ) Hardcover ).

Traveling philosophers came through Corinth all the time. They supported themselves by getting wealthy patrons to support them while the philosophers taught in the city square. The Roman and Greek cultures disdained manual labor. The Corinthians must have thought it was pretty strange for Paul to work as a common laborer while he was preaching the gospel.  However, Paul was establishing the church and was removing any obstacles to the Gospel. Paul had a dual purpose in asking this question. He wanted the Corinthians to follow his example of sacrificial service and he wanted them to realize that being a manual laborer did not detract from his credentials as an apostle. Paul teaches elsewhere that work, even manual labor honors God (Colossians 3:23).

Great Commission Leadership Institute

The Downtown Campus Leader are studying the Great Commission Leadership materials together. One of the chapters mentioned the problems the Great Commission Church Movement experienced and addressed. The Great Commission Churches admitted that they did appoint unqualified elders back in the 1970s and 1980s. They had good reasons. The movement was made up of young men and women just out of college or still in college. Churches were being planted in campuses all over the United States. They needed pastors immediately. GCC leadership patterned their church after the model of the first century church and as they read Acts they noticed apostles were uneducated and young. They concluded they did not need to follow the elder requirements outlined in in 1 Timothy and Titus too closely. The leaders decided the new pastors would learn on the job. They chose men who showed leadership skills and called it good. However, many of the problems the Great Commission churches encountered in the 1980s were because of immaturity in their leaders and their lack of doctrinal knowledge. David Bovenmeyer, one of the key leaders of the GCC, commented on the problems.

David Bovenmeyer
We acknowledge that there were instances where some of us in our immaturity tended to lead more by coercion and compulsion than by inspiration and example. Some men, especially in the early years of our movement, were appointed as pastors, or assumed the responsibility of a pastor, before they fully met the qualifications set forth in the Scriptures, and so were unable to consistently lead in a God honoring way. ... At times, were overly directive in the personal affairs of church members and were not always sufficiently sensitive to the Holy Spirit's leading in the person's life. (p. 218, GCLI Book III, Grace in Dealing with Criticism)

Haiti

In Haiti last spring, I had a conversation with one of the World Wide Village staff. She pointed out that a couple of the pastors let a fingernail on one of their pinky fingers grow long. We asked her why? She said it was a fashion statement. It was a way to indicate to the world that they were not common laborers. They wanted to demonstrate they were respected men in the community who did not need to keep their fingernails trimmed to make a living. These men are godly men who sincerely love the Lord, but their culture has blinded them to a pride issue. In the United States, we need to pray humbly for the Holy Spirit to identify blind spots in our ministry.

John Bunyan

John Owen was one of the most famous Puritan pastors of the 17th century. He was an Oxford educated theologian, who wrote theological treatises that are still studied and quoted today. Owen was extremely well connected politically and academically. He avoided most of the persecution of the Puritan churches because of his connections.

John Bunyan wrote Pilgrim's Progress: a book that became the most influential Christian classic ever written. However, Bunyan was not connected politically: he was imprisoned several years for his beliefs. John Bunyan was not well educated and was a lowly tinker. A tinker repaired pots and pans. It was not a highly respected occupation. It was considered a semi-skilled occupation fit for only for gypsies and transients. It was probably considered to be very similar in how tent-making in the apostle Paul's day was considered. John Bunyan; however, had one big fan. John Piper told this story in one of his biographies, but this website had a shorter synopsis.

John Owen once went to hear John Bunyan preach. Charles II, hearing of it, asked the doctor why someone as thoroughly educated as he would want to hear a mere tinker preach. Owen replied, "May it please your Majesty, if I could possess the tinker's abilities to grip men's hearts, I would gladly give in exchange all my learning." http://www.reformationtheology.com/2008/04/john_owen_john_bunyan.php)

The Qualifications

The following passages are the main passages concerning the qualifications for elder in the New Testament.

1 Timothy 3:1-7
The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God's church? He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil. Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil.

Titus 1:6-9
if anyone is above reproach, the husband of one wife, and his children are believers and not open to the charge of debauchery or insubordination. For an overseer, as God's steward, must be above reproach. He must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent or greedy for gain, but hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined. He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.

One of my favorite theologians of the 20th century is Francis Schaeffer. He thought hard and long about the Church in the 20th century and wrote the following about these passages.

Francis Schaeffer
The church has no right to diminish these standards for the officers of the Church, nor does it have any right to elevate any other as though they are then equal to these which are commanded by God himself. These and only these stand as absolute.

Schaeffer also points out that Paul has given the Church much flexibility concerning how the elders are chosen, how they are organized, and how they are to rule. Elders could be hired or elected by the congregation or chosen by the elder board. Because of the church's culture, there may be requirements that are added to help ensure that the requirements are met. For example, there may be a probationary period for an elder candidate so that the congregation can evaluate the candidate and see if he exhibits the character traits needed.  However, as Schaefer points out, we subtract and add to these requirements at our own peril. Any additional requirements should be to support the biblical standard and not be an independent requirement.

Conclusion

Notice in these requirements for elder, there is nothing about the man's occupation, education level, rhetorical skills (Exodus 4;10-12; 2 Corinthians 10:10), manners, or his clothing. A tent-maker, a tinker, a garbage men, a barrista or a college professor should be equally qualified to be an elder, if they meet the other criteria. All work, whether ecclesiastical or secular, management or manual, should be honored in the church.

There are many applications to this truth, but I will only list two. First, when we evaluate an elder candidate, we must be careful not to judge the man on cultural standards. For example, we may be tempted to overlook that a man is a recent convert, because he is a CEO of a company and has great people management and money handling skills. Or we may overlook a godly man because he is just a garbage collector and intends to stay one. If we do not closely look at the man, we may overlook that  he may want to remain a garbage man because his hours are flexible enough to allow him to minister almost full time.

Second, every man should aspire to be a leader in his home and prayerfully consider his giftedness to become an elder. No one should disqualify themselves from becoming an elder because of his occupation. He should consider the biblical critieria and whether he is gifted in that area.

Becoming an elder is a "noble task." However, not all men are to become elders. All men should lead in their home and take responsibility to be godly men in their spheres of responsibility (i.e. family, home, work, neighborhood, etc). There is a certain giftedness to become a pastor. It is a humbling, Word-centric ministry. The men who aspire to be elders should not do it for selfish gain or selfish pride, but to seek the opportunity to proclaim Christ through boldly preaching and humbly serving. All jobs have prestige, if they are done with skill (Proverbs 22:29) and if it is done for the Lord (Colossions 3:23). God has gifted people in the church to serve in different ways and all those ways should be honored.